Spare car keys (remote/programmable ones)

arcon5

Has anybody had one cut and how much did you pay?

I went into Timpson today to get a price... £100 (£50 for a standard/non-remote one) :eek: - is this a competitive price?

I see on ebay the uncut keys can be bought for under a fiver, so might be worth taking my car key & this in to see how much they will cut it for!

DCFC79

I went to dealer and payed an extortinate price(think i payed £140 a 6/7 years ago) to get a new 1 or a new key part, id some how managed to bend it slightly. I should have looked around for cheaper prices but wanted it done as soon as.

[Deleted User]

It depends on the make model and year of you car.

My spare cost me approx £30(new key&cutting and an old transponder off Ebay) whereas Toyota wanted £200:money:

forgotmyname

£8.50 for a ford chipped key, £2 to have oit cut locally. A few people have said ford themselves are cheap for the standard non remote keys.

Depends if you can program it yourself, I had 2 keys already so i could add more myself. Timpsons could only clone keys when i asked.

Problem with a cloned key you will need a dealer to wipe the keys off the ecu. As the code will be the same as the key you have left. Erase one erases both.

tomasb66

Timpson are doing chipped keys at 50 % off. I've just had a spare key done (cloned from my working ,existing key) and it cost £25 .

this is outstanding value for a Nissan NATS key . Auto locksmith in Newcastle quoted 'about £75'

Only small drawback is that it isn't designed to operate central locking, I can live with opening the door with the key when I think what Nissan charge for the extra feature.

AlexisV

Taking out keycare insurance (usually only a couple of quid a month) is very wise if you have a modern car.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

AlexisV wrote: »

Taking out keycare insurance (usually only a couple of quid a month) is very wise if you have a modern car.

yes but most of the types of cover dont cover having a second key cut. only if you lose the existing only key will the then supply two keys and a programme and some makes and models they wont cover like the meganes laguna's that have smart cards.

s_b

tomasb66 wrote: »

Timpson are doing chipped keys at 50 % off. I've just had a spare key done (cloned from my working ,existing key) and it cost £25 .

this is outstanding value for a Nissan NATS key . Auto locksmith in Newcastle quoted 'about £75'

Only small drawback is that it isn't designed to operate central locking, I can live with opening the door with the key when I think what Nissan charge for the extra feature.

timpsons need to keep to cobbling
they quoted a trader i know £140 for a nissan cloned key and had the cheek to boast it was £20 cheaper than the nissan dealer
i thought they wore masks because of the glue but now know why they wear them
he bought a key off ebay but it split in 2 on the cutting machine

TrickyWicky

Timpson = dirty rotten scoundrels.

I was quoted over £50 for a new key blade for my remote fob. They told me they couldn't do the fob but the replacement blade would come with a bit to hold the ignition transponder. They also told me that the blade could not be salvaged from the remote (something I knew was a lie as I'd already had it apart to replace the batteries and the only thing holding the blade in is the screw that goes through it).

Went to the local independant locksmith a while later (about something totally unrelated) and whilst there noticed he had an identical key blade hanging up on the wall behind him. I asked him if it was for the same make of car and could I have a closer look at it etc - exact match. Nipped home, grabbed the broken key took it to him (I'd unscrewed it myself and taken out the key blade), he cut the new blade for me, I put the new blade in the fob and job done. It's been a good'un ever since - £2 it cost me. TWO POUNDS. Quite a difference between over £50 and £2 wouldn't you agree?

Bottom line: Don't touch Timpsons for car keys.

smartmart2

i do car keys/remotes for a living
as a general rule the older the vehicle the cheaper the spare key.
transponder chips were intruduced into vehicles from 1995 (although theres a few models that have them fitted before this)
all i can say is if u snapped a key (ie you still have the key head with the chip in ) then use ebay to get a spare key and get that cut.
if u need a spare key then dont waste your money with ebay.
the vast majority of car keys that have been cut and coded to a vehicle are for that car only .
so if you see a 2nd hand key on ebay and its already been coded to another car the chances are u wont get away with recoding to your car .
the only ones i would take a punt on are fords,and rover 200/400 remote
if u have a renault/citroen/vauxhall etc etc dont waste your money on ebay .
if you see a brand new key on ebay never been coded etc check with a auto locksmith 1st if it can be coded .
there are some makes and models were the keys need to have information on the chips alaready and have to be ordered off your vehicles chassis no and reg.(mostly fiat's from the year 2000 onwards)
if someone brings an ebay key to me i will cut and code it(most locksmiths do) but i always make it clear that if it dosnt code in then you will still have to pay for the coding.
what most people dont realise is that when a new key is going to be coded into a vehicle by a locksmith the machine used will use a token whether it codes in or not (the token system for us locksmith cost money each token can cost £25 each)
so if i code a key from ebay and it dosnt work i still make the charge of £25 beacuse i will incure this charge no matter what.
i think what it boils down to is talk to the locksmith 1st ,it can save u time and money and alot of hassle.
this is what i charge for a run of the mill vauxhall corsa key on a 2004 registration
standard key £70 (no buttons but still starts the car)
remote key £120 (all singing and dancing)
you also need to be aware that most cars now need a immoboliser code to be able to code extra keys into the car.
if you dont have this code (usually in the black folder small credit card size)
then you will need to get it .
the dealers do charge for this usually £20-£25
again us locksmith will incure this charge so we pass this onto the customer .
hope this helps